Little Cricket's "Torn Apart"

29 years ago tomorrow, a bloody 11-day siege came to an end at Ruby Ridge in Idaho, during which an innocent man's family was changed forever.

The siege, which took the lives of Randy Weaver's wife, 14-year-old son, and family dog, was initiated by the United States Marshals Service after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms used an informant to entrap Weaver into selling shotguns that were shorter than the length limit set by federal law.

Furthermore, Weaver was provided by his probation officer with incorrect information about the date of his trial.

After Weaver failed to appear in court, which was his greatest crime, the USMS decided that the appropriate response was to show up at his property with night-vision goggles and military rifles.

The ensuing encounter resulted in the shooting of Weaver's dog and 14-year-old son, both of whom were killed, after which Weaver and his family retreated to their cabin.

The next day, snipers were deployed and subsequently wounded a friend of the Weavers and killed Randy's wife, Vicki, who was holding their 10-month-old baby at the time.

Not a year later, the ATF was involved once again in a deadly siege, this time near Waco, Texas, an incident I wrote about in a recent song I released on YouTube, called "Mt. Carmel."

I decided to write and record an acoustic version of a new song, "Torn Apart," to tell the story of Ruby Ridge from the perspective of Randy Weaver and his surviving daughters.

You can watch me perform the song on my YouTube channel: